Overview
- Registered unemployment rose in August 2026 to 375,730 people, lifting the national rate to 7.2 percent.
- The increase was concentrated among women, whose joblessness rose about 5.8 percent, and people aged 50 and over, who saw a 6.4 percent rise, while male unemployment fell by 0.8 percent.
- Job losses were largest in health and social care, which rose roughly 11.5 percent, followed by trade and manufacturing with notable increases.
- The number of immediately available jobs reported to the AMS fell about 1.3 percent to just under 80,000 and apprenticeship vacancies dropped roughly 15 percent, prompting the labour minister to push AMS priorities toward women, young people and migrants.
- Subnational outcomes diverged: Tyrol recorded a low 3.5 percent rate with 7,340 open positions, while the Wesel/Kleve area in Germany reported a 7.0 percent rate and Kreis Wesel showed 7.6 percent with 2,219 vacancies.